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Though he does not understand what has happened, Elesin views himself as a failure. Silenced and weighed down by the colonizer’s shackles, he is full of shame and sorrow.
This means that Pilkings will never be able to understand why Elesin had to die, even if hesitating was potentially natural. Active Themes Elesin turns to his bride and says that first he blamed Pilkings for his failure, then the gods, but now, he wants to blame her.
This is confirmed when later, Elesin fails to commit suicide. Though he blames Pilkings (who arrests Elesin at the moment he tries to die), the gods, and his bride in turn, Elesin eventually admits that he loved life too much and didn't entirely want to die.
Oct 15, 2024 · Olunde and Elesin’s death marks the end of the line of king’s horsemen, too. Iyaloja delivers the play’s conclusion about life and death: She admonishes Simon for his refusal to accept death, saying that just by being alive does not mean “the stain of death will not cling”.
On the one hand, Olunde’s death leads to Elesin’s death, and Simon’s entire goal of thwarting the suicide has, instead, resulted in a double suicide—and likely unrest. But, at the same time, because Olunde died without a son, there will not be another king’s horseman.
Though Pilkings says that Elesin dying wouldn't be a great loss—he's had run-ins with Elesin in the past and finds Elesin difficult to deal with and annoyingly entrenched in native customs—Pilkings does fully believe in the Christian idea that suicide is a sin.
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Why does Elesin's son die before he dies?
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What does Simon say about Elesin?
She knows that Elesin, not Simon, is at fault for not carrying out his suicide, because he allowed himself to be distracted by the young woman, and Elesin accepts the blame. Iyaloja reveals that she has brought “a burden”: the body of Olunde, who has killed himself in his father’s place.
